Shadows
Prologue “Please Rach, I beg you.” The woman pleaded. Outside the terrace, rain poured heavily, splashing on the solid asphalt as they talked. “Just… Come in. We can talk about this inside.” The redhead said, worried. The sky rumbled with electricity, lightning flashing on the rainclouds, and the baby in the blond woman’s hand started to cry. Gently, she pulled the baby into her hug and kissed her cheek. “No.” She replied, “I have to go soon.” “Don’t make me do this.” The redhead said desperately, “I have lost my husband, my parents, and now I have to lose you?” “I have to. This is for the world’s sake. I beg you.” She pleaded again, tears of desperation flowing down her pale face. “Please Rachel. I don’t want her to grow up an orphan. At least she will have you if her Dad and I were gone.” The redhead opened her mouth to speak, but the woman cut her off. “I have to go soon. The battle will commence, and Keith is waiting for me. Please. Tell her stories, the ones about the great heroes of the Greek mythology. Don’t let it fade from her mind, or the world’s. Protect them, protect those precious stories.” Gently, she handed the sleeping baby into the arms of the redhead. “Promise me you will return.” The redhead wiped tears off her face. “I-“ “Promise.” “I can’t. I’m sorry.” The blond turned around to hide her tears. She quickly ran into the heavy rain, fading into the shadows, leaving the redhead with the baby in her arms alone in the darkness of the night. Chapter 1 “Please fill in this form, and all the registration process will be done.” The old woman said in her high-pitched voice. “That-That’s it?” The woman arched her eyebrows. “Yes, yes it is.” The old woman said impatiently, sliding the white paper onto the woman. The woman awkwardly took out a blue pen and wrote on the piece of paper. Smiling, she handed it back at the old woman. “Now, your child err…” She looked at the paper, “Leah, isn’t it? Can go to school starting next Monday with all the other kids.” “Thank you, so much.” The woman shook the old woman’s hand excitedly, sending the old woman sighing in annoyance. “Okay. Now you may leave.” She politely said, trying to hide her anger. The woman smiled, and walked out of the room, slamming the wooden door with excitement. Stepping into the hallway, her eyes caught the image of the blond girl, who was leaning against the dull grey wall. “They have accepted you!” The woman squealed, popping a pink bubblegum into her mouth. No matter how much she’s grown, she could never erase her habit. “Uh-huh, and they’re gonna kick me out like all the others. Yippie.” The girl rolled her blue eyes. “Oh come on!” The woman hugged the girl. “What could go wrong?” “Lots of stuff. For instance, me being a kleptomaniac, and having dyslexia.” The girl huffed. “Don't forget ADHD.” The woman added, chewing the bubblegum. Her eyes widened, realizing that she had just said her thought out loud. “Thanks for reminding me.” The girl grabbed her Ripcurl backpack and walked away gruffily. “Wait dear, I’m sorry!” The woman hurried towards the girl, who stopped and rolled her eyes for the thousandth time. “What do you say… We drive home, buy some Baskin Robbins, you know, chocolate chip, and stop by at Burger King?” The woman offered. The girl’s eyes widened, and the woman, being a psychologist, sighed, trying to lure her into reverse psychology. “But you know, if you don’t want to and you’re still angry at-“ “No! No I’m not! Let’s go Mom!” The girl’s eyes glinted with joy. “Okay then.” The woman smiled, pleased, and took the girl’s hand. They walked towards the silver Volvo parked just outside of the school and went inside. Chapter 2 Leah Scooping the 20th scoop of chocolate chip ice cream into my mouth, I looked at Mom, who looked deep in thought next to me. In front of me, the theme song to Spongebob Squarepants blared as the weird captain dude with the moving mouth appeared on the screen. Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? SpongeBob Squarepants! “Mom?” I arched my eyebrows. Absorbent and yellow and porous is he! “Mom!” SpongeBob Squarepants! If nautical nonsense be something you wish! SpongeBob Squarepants! Then drop on the deck and flop like a-'' I turned the TV off and looked at her. “Mom!” She gasped in surprise and jumped up in reflex, “Oh, sorry dear.” She sighed. “What’s wrong?” I asked, scooping another spoonful of ice cream. “Oh… N-nothing." She lied. "Come on. 13 years living with you, and you think I can't tell it when you're lying?" I arched my eyebrows.] "Listen. I-I have to-" She was cut off by several knocks on the door. It was unusual, really, that we had any guest at all, plus she hadn't ordered any deliveries. She slipped her feet onto the red slippers in front of her and grabbed her red Guess coat from the coat hanger, and walked towards the door cautiously. She cleared her throat and opened the door. “How may I-“ Her eyes widened in the sight of the figure. He was a tall man, his eyes covered in tortoiseshell shades. He had rough tanned skin and long, wavy black hair, which he had neatly tied into a ponytail, his face scarred. Mom slowly backed off, taking out a knife from her pocket, and pointed it at the man. “Oracle of Delphi, you really think you can escape us forever?" The man chuckled. "Give in, and give us the godling, and your soul shall be spared.” The man snickered, unsheathing a hunting knife from his pocket. “Mom?” I got out of the sofa and walked towards them. “That’s right godling, come here.” He smirked. “No! Run away!” Mom screamed, her face filled with horror. Yelling, she slashed the knife at the man’s face, leaving a bleeding gash that stretched from his pointed nose to his right cheek. Mom bolted towards me, grabbed my hand, and we ran towards the kitchen. I could hear the man’s heavy footsteps, catching up with us, and a horrifying growl that shot chills down my spine. I reached out my hand, grabbing everything I could from the pantry and throwing it at his direction before we broke out of the back door, and out of the house. There was a loud noise, that of metal hitting something solid, and a roar of anger. We ran towards the street, and I looked back to see the man, his face steaming of anger. “Run. I’ll protect you.” Mom whispered, her lips shaking with fear as a tear flowed down her face. “Mom-“ “Run. Now.” I hugged her tightly and bolted towards the street. Hiding behind a lavender-colored house, I peeked at them from far away. The man started violently slashing his knife at Mom, who could fight surprisingly well. She jabbed and blocked, running around like an antelope. The man sneered, and a blast of energy exploded from his hands, blinding me. The last thing I heard was a shrill, heart-breaking scream, and footsteps, before darkness swallowed me whole. Chapter 3 “I think she’s awake.” A male voice said, half-whispering. “Her eyes are closed, you idiot!” Another voice, this one of a girl’s, protested. “Just-“ I opened my eyes, and immediately squinted from the bright light. Groaning, I got up, rubbing my eyes, and realized that two figures were standing in front of me. The boy was probably 16, with messy dark brown hair, which nearly covered his matching eyes. He looked like those male models from jeans ads, slightly tanned, and ripped up muscles. The girl was probably 15, with pale face and white blond hair the length of her chin. Her fringes, cut straight, were streaked with black, cut right above her light blue eyes. A wave of pain erupted in my mind as memories flashed before my eyes. Mom. So I ran. I raced into the hundreds of trees behind me, immediately realizing that I was inside a forest. I rushed, sweats of fear dripping down my forehead, dirt flying onto my red Converse as they hit the solid earth. I knew, I knew they must have been the enemy. Then why didn’t they kill me straight away? Whatever the reasons, I didn’t care. I kept running away, away from those footsteps behind me, frightened. I ran around, yelling “Mom!”, but to no avail. There was this eerie feeling that she was- No. She couldn’t be gone. Could she? My hope running low, I kept running, desperately trying to find signs of her. But no, she was nowhere to be found. My eyes started to get blurred of tears, and it felt as if the tendons of my legs were going to snap anytime. I dropped to the ground, weak, and watched helplessly as they ran towards me. The last thing I saw was the girl, yelling in an alien language at the boy, before the world melted into darkness. Chapter 4 ''“She died.” The man said, a glint of sadness showing in his voice. '' ''Tears dropped from the woman’s eyes, her lips shaking, but she steeled herself to say the next sentence. She knew, in her head, it was impossible, but deep down, a tiny fleck of hope was left. She took a deep breath, gripping the phone tighter, and shakily opened her mouth. “And the girl?” Her voice shook of the tears. A momentary silence hung in the air. The phone crackled a bit, and a deep sigh could be heard from the other end. '' ''“She couldn’t have survived. She died.” The sentence boomed inside her head, crushing the hope she had left. The phone slided from the woman’s open hand, and clattered as it hit the ground. She cried, she cried so hard, and dropped to the ground weakly. Tears uncontrollably streamed down her pale face as she screamed in denial. But she knew, she knew the girl was gone. A tall figure ran towards her and pulled her into his arms, knowing what happened. He, too, cried of the pain. '' ''They couldn’t accept it, deep down. But they knew she will never return. Their little AnnaLeigh, their precious daughter, was gone. ''' '' ' I, Rose, am redoing this chappy bcause it basically, sucks o.o xDDDD gonna upddate soon! Category:Shadows Category:Chapter Page